A method is known for abandonment of an aircraft by using a tractor rocket engine which pulls a crew member out by means of a tractor cable, and then using a parachute.
A method is also known for saving members of a crew using a catapult seat, the method comprising catapulting a member of the crew from the cabin together with the seat, and subsequently opening a parachute located in the seat and separating the crew member from the seat.
These methods have two basic drawbacks. In the first place, the parachute is put into operation with some delay in time after the seat with the pilot has gone a certain distance from the aircraft. In the second place, these methods can only be realized by means of systems having a sufficiently large mass, but this is unacceptable for realizing such methods on light aircraft.